What is the reason for Jailbreaking your IPOD TOUCH Gen2 ?

Ok I know that this is a silly question but, I just bought my 13 year old an IPOD TOUCH 2gen 16gb for his Birthday. I have not given him the IPOD yet because his Birthday isn't until St. Patricks day.

Ok back to my question. Why do you Jailbreak an IPOD? I keep seeing websites posted posted all over the internet talking about jailbreaking your IPOD. Is it something that has to be done? If not why do it? What is the advantage of Jailbreaking an IPOD. Does it cancel the warranty of the IPOD?

Yeah I know some of these questions might be silly but I just want him to be able to enjoy his IPOD and not mess it up.

I jailbrake my 2g but I don't know a lot about Jailbreak, i just did it because i wanted some apps (gba emulator) (mxTube) (winterboard) (javac & java) that the app store (apple) couldn't bring me, but One of the reasons for Jailbreak is : install third-part apps.

Jailbreaking your ipod is optional. It completely voids your warranty. But the neat trick about the warranty is that your able to restore your ipod to factory settings. Thus, bringing the warranty back. My reason for jailbreaking is to pimp out my spring board. Also, Apple has deemed this method "illegal" but it hasnt been added to he DMCA yet. Enjoy it while you can.

it dose void your warranty but you can always restore it to faactory settings and they would have never known and the reason why to have a jailbreak its fun you can coustomize your springboard like you can in windows and macs and you can get 3rd paty apps that are not in the app store its really alot of fun to do

Alright, the short and simple answer is, jailbreaking unlocks an iPods potential. It lets you install themes, change the lockscreen, install different keyboards, etc. Its not required, its fully optional, but if you jailbreak it, or let your son do it, he'll have more fun with it, since he'll be able to do more stuff. Yes, it voids your warrenty, but reverting to a non-jailbroken ipod is easy, just a matter of restoring to a non-jailbroke software, which can be done through iTunes, with just a click of a button. Also, once it's jailbroken, thats all that will need to be done in order to install the vast majority of the themes and add-ons. He (or you) will be able to download and install themes through an app called Cydia, which is installed at the same time as the jailbreak is being installed. For an idea of what an iPod looks like with themes, check out this thread: